Janet Rosemary Trinder nee Blake: Memories from the War Years around Kidlington and Bicester, Oxfordshire (1939-1948)

Birth: I was born in 1932 at the old John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford when mums had to stay in bed 14 days after a baby was born. The War started in Sept 1939 and ended in May 1945. My parents were Margaret Beatrice Blake nee Thompsom and father was West John Aubrey Blake. During the War years they lived in Kidlington, Oxfordshire. He bought the last in the row of bungalows, 'The Moors' (number 93). The ground that was left over, my dad bought it for 75 pounds and that widened the garden by half.

In the 1940s, we had a telephone. During the War, my dad was a Fire Watcher (he used to use binoculars to see where bombs had dropped). Dad had to have a telephone because he had to be on call. Our telephone number was "Kidlington 103"...now it's about 7 or 8 numbers total. We were the first in our row of houses to have a telephone. I remember Mr. Brown up the road use to come down and ask "Could I use your telephone please" so he could talk to friends in Maplethorpe on the coast where he was from - that took up a whole evening because he wanted us to know all about his phone call and Maplethorpe. When the phone call finished, you used to call the operator back and she would let you know how much the phone call cost. We used to have to call up the telephone exchange which manually connected our calls - and that's how gossip started. It was the Postmistress in Kidlington, Mrs. Colcutt, who was also the telephone exchange operator. Every so often, after the War, in the Girl Guides, we used to hand-stamp envelopes for her for a small payment. She used to put money in the kitty to help towards our Girl Guides trips. We used to go into her house and I remember the switchboard in the back of the house and the front of the house was the post office. Her house was on Oxford Road near the center of Kidlington.

Memories of potato picking: literally picking them up. We used to bend over and pick them up by hand at a farm on Banbury Road in Kidlington. The farmer's name was Mr. Wilsdon. His wife reserved the cucumber that my mum grew. We sold a lot of vegetables from our garden in The Moors in Kidlington during the War (it's all been rebuilt since my dad died) - tomatoes, beetroot, shallots - and I remember that one cucumber that my mother was treasuring for Mrs. Wilsdon. I can see the cucumber there now in my dad's greenhouse. At Bicester School, right after the War in 1948, school children were employed to pick the potatoes.

We had no Television. It was snail mail with all the newspapers. I think my dad had the Daily Mail. I remember the radio (the 'wireless') it had three switches "Tone" , "Power" and "Station" and the needle, like a barometer face, moved to the station. The radio was in a corner on a small table, and I used to sit on a small chair near the radio. We listened to 'Saturday Night Theatre' wishing to my parents that we could see the people in action. Tommy Handly and Arthur Askey (with his "You lucky people" catch phrase), were raucous comedians. Richard Murdoch was his sidekick I believe. He was a handsome, sober man.

Learning to swim in the River Cherwell with the cows. We were just left to do what we wanted. We didn't do mischief.

Handicrafts: I learned to knit dishcloths on big wooden needles, double plain stitch on. I remember early in the 1940s, before I went to Bicester Grammar School, making the pot holder (see photos) - I remember making this. It was put into an exhibition once. Ms. Meyer was the teacher. In the Top class at Ms Meyer at the Infant School, I remember making the pinnie. It's chain stitched.

Memories of dad's cigarettes: My dad smoked a lot. There was a sailor on the packet. Dad's Players cigarettes from the King's Arms pub (I remember publican Trixey in the big room). They were 6 pence each. Mrs. Blaygrove (her husband was the local pig farmer). To get the cigarettes, I remember going to the pub, the King's Arms. There was a little wrapper around the Woodbines. It was an open-ended one when we was weaning himself off of cigarettes. When he decided to pack up on smoking, he gave all the money he saved from not buying cigarettes to go towards the purchase of a hand plane for woodworking.

Pigs: We had pigs during the War kept at the top of the garden (back garden). It was fun looking after them. They were very well looked after. I remember oiling and brushing them when I came home from school. We had one to start with during the war. "Phyllis". My father built the pig sties out of breeze blocks. There was a bacon factory at the top of the road at Kidlington Railway Station (no longer in existence). The next time we had two pigs "Tish" and "Tosh". This was part of a War-time government scheme - the government had half the pig. We could keep half but they had to be of a special quality otherwise the government wouldn't be interested. We had bacon joints hanging from our curtain rail in the sitting room. We used to cut a slice off in the morning for our breakfast. The pigs were killed at the bacon factory. And then we had three more - 'Mishak', 'Shadrack' and 'Abednego'. They were killed at the bacon factory too. Then we had one odd one that was killed at home in the garden, we had to shut up all the windows and what not as the pig was squealing. Next lot we had four - named after a very popular pop group"...can't remember right now. I remember people up the road saved their cabbage leaves to feed the pigs. Nothing was wasted.

During the War, my dad grew cockerels for Christmas to sell. They were ordered by people, except for one man who didn't eat chickens. So my dad raised a few rabbits for him. My mum used to pluck the feathers off of the chickens.

Schooling: I started at Bicester County School in 1943 (later renamed Bicester Grammar School) after I finished Kidlington Junior School. The last thing I received from the school was First Prize for Gardening (see photo of watercolour). First prize was a framed watercolour of "The Woodland Maid" by Margaret W. Tarrant which I still have. We had a gardening lesson (Friday afternoons). Ms Webber was the gardening teacher. We did plays. Ms Mace was the Headmistress. Ms Webber and Ms Mace shared a bungalow in Kidlington. I finished Kidlington Junior School in 1943. They built a new school, Blenheim School. I won a scholarship in 1943 to attend Bicester County School. We had brown knickers with a pocket on them. Not sure what you'd put in there as you'd have to raise your skirt up to get to the pocket. The school colours - brown and yellow. There were brown gym slips and knickers and yellow shirts and brown cardigans. This was when you had to wear a uniform. I was very proud of those. They had what we call 'Houses'. I was in 'Market House' - there was 'Priory House' and 'Kings House'. I eventually became the Captain of Market House during the fifth year, the last year.

Scholarship in 1943: I was awarded a scholarship (see photo of scholarship certificate). I remember during the exam for the scholarship, you had to open a big piece of paper and answer the questions. I sat next to Hazel Farmer from Shipton on Cherwell - the next village up from Kidlington on the canal. I remember that she was a tall girl. This was the first time any one of my family earned a scholarship. I cycled from home to a school bus stop a mile and a half away at Gosford Hill (near Trubie's Cafe, a greasy spoon, a lot of drivers used to eat there). Then the bus to Bicester, sometimes around the villages. Then we were queued up to go home. If we were lucky and had a bit of spare cash, for a thrupence we bought a lardy cake a Burncester Cafe. I finished Bicester Grammar School in July 1948. I liked History more than anything but all I got was a pass. (see photo School certificate). I didn't stay on for sixth form as my parents couldn't afford it.

Music: I earned my grade II music certificate in piano in 1943 and grade III in 1944. (see photos of music certificates). We had a piano at home. I started learning when I was about 10 years old. I finished when I was about 15 and had had enough. It used to cost 12 and 6 for a piano lesson which was quite high back then. I remember being out in the field behind our house in 'The Moors' foraging for stalks and stubble for the chickens. It's now been built upon. I remember there was a horse and farmer in the field too. My mother came to the field gate at the bottom of the garden and called me in to practice the piano. I didn't want to come in to practice the piano. I was having a good time in the field with the horse and farmer. That's when I stopped piano lessons. I don't think I ever saw the horse again in the field or the farmer.